While there are endless apps and tools available to young musicians working toward mastering their craft, sometimes keeping it simple is just as effective. Using a timer strategically can improve your practice productivity without needing to spend a cent. I like to use the timer on my smart watch because it’s always on hand (pun intended!) and I prefer the vibrating alarm to loud sounds while I’m trying to focus. That being said, any timer will do the trick, though I do advise avoiding a phone timer if you struggle with scrolling during your practice sessions.

1. Eating your Vegetables

If you’re like most students I’ve worked with (or like my younger self), you have a set of exercises in your mind that you know would make a positive impact on your playing, but you don’t really want to do any of them. This could be your long tones, working on double tonguing, your Bb melodic minor scale, anything!

So where does the timer factor in? Set the timer for 2-3 minutes and commit to just 2-3 minutes a day of what you need to work on. I call this “eating your vegetables” and in my experience with students and myself, you get over the resistance to these exercises as you notice the positive impacts they have on your playing.

Ultimately, the consistency of a few min a day over the course of weeks (3 min x 5 sessions a week x 4 weeks is already 60 min!) will get you much further than powering through for 10-20 minutes once or twice a month when you “have the motivation.” Even if the total amount of time was equal, you’d see faster progress with shorter, more consistent bursts.

1. Tension timer

For years I struggled with excessive tension in my playing. I’ve landed myself in physical therapy for repetitive stress injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis) multiple times. Each time I would recommit to eliminating tension from my playing, but the tension would creep back in. I would start a practice session telling myself that I’d focus on relaxed, easy technique throughout. By the end of the session, though, I’d be sore and realize that at some point I had stopped focusing on it and fell back into my old pattern.

Then I added a tension timer.. Every time the timer went off, I’d stop and evaluate my tension and recommit to relaxed technique. I recommend starting with shorter periods between 5-10 minutes, especially if this is an area you struggle in. As you begin to rewire your technique you can stretch the timer farther.

By letting the timer “remember” your intention for you, you’re slowly teaching yourself to check in on your playing and rewire your habits. Eventually, your ability to notice different aspects of your playing in the moment will improve.

(you can also use this technique for aspects of your playing you’re trying to rewire: articulation, keeping your fingers on the keys, voicing, etc)

1. Interleaving

Interleaving is a research-backed study technique. The strategy involves mixing up the topics, question types, and/or subjects to boost retention and problem solving. For the sake of brevity, I encourage you to check out this article by Christine Carter for the Bulletproof Musician blog if you’d like to know more about the science and how she suggests using this strategy in your practice.

Why use a timer for this strategy? It’s actually harder to continually switch what material you’re working on than it is to repeat the same section endlessly. Setting a timer for each of your shorter sections can help you facilitate a more interleaved session.

For example, let’s say you have a technique assignment that requires you to learn 2 etudes and a new scale pattern. Instead of spending 20 min on each one after the other, this technique would have you practice each part of the assignment for 5 minutes, then move on to the next and repeat. You can also vary the order you repeat sections in for a more “randomized” effect.

This forces your brain to process each aspect of the assignment in a “fresh” state more often. Not only does this boost retention (the main topic of the Bulletproof Musician article above) but it’s preparing you in advance for how you’ll need to perform.